the .: fyr :. light

One of the things I learned while preparing 2008 tax returns this year, was that most active duty military are able to retain their “home of record”. This means, for them, that they literally reside in the state they choose and pay state taxes to that state, and never have to get register again wherever they PCS to (PCS=Permanent Change of Station; or for the lay person, getting moved around to the many different military installations stateside and worldwide).

One of the things that I was told I would have to do every time we moved, was re-register in that state, get a new driver’s license essentially. Put the new address on record as the one where we currently call home. At the time, I cringed knowing we would be moving on average every 2 years. Which meant that I would have to pay a visit to my local authorities every 2 years and re-register current address and wait for a new driver’s license.

This last move from Kentucky to Texas was pretty annoying for me. And frankly that lay in the fact that after Kentucky, the process of getting a driver’s license in the state of Texas is annoying as hell. You go in, sign up the papers, give them all your information, take your picture and get a slip paper that replaces the one you had before and you wait 4-6 weeks to get your new license in the mail.

I thought it was archaic as hell. Kentucky had a 5-10 minute waiting period – depending on the number of people in the office that day. I have NO idea what it is Texas needs to do why it needs to go to a central location and why it needs to take 4-6 weeks. All I know is that after 2 weeks, I got a letter saying something went wrong and I had to go back and go through the same rigmarole all over again…. and STILL wait another 4-6 weeks.

When I finally got my license in the mail, I cried … because it was ugly and it was the same quality as the Kentucky license that I had to surrender. I had imagined it was coming embossed in gold with a magnetic stripe and keys to the kingdom.

In any case, I am scouring the Twitter network this morning for military spouse and I find a little gem that makes me glad I may never have to go through this again. It seems as if a bill sponsored initially by Senators Burr and Feinstein had been approved in Congress and was sent on to the President to be signed into law.

Under current law, service members can choose to keep their original residency as they relocate. Spouses who lobbied for the change said having that same right would prevent hassles associated with every move, such as obtaining a new driver’s license and reregistering to vote. In some cases, it also eliminates the need for couples to file separate tax returns and lowers the income taxes that some spouses pay. Moving is a ritual repeated nearly every three years on average for military families.

The House passed the legislation on a voice vote. Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, a bill sponsor who represents Fort Hood, Texas, said it would give “invaluable relief to numerous military spouses who regularly uproot their entire lives to accommodate our Armed Forces.” Carter said in a statement that he expects Obama to sign the legislation into law in the next few days.

Yay for military spouses everywhere!

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